If the trigger to longer lived bees is the end of pollen coming into the hive, it could be as simple as reduced pollen in the diet or as complex as a change in the nurse bees that causes them to modify the ratio of enzymes they add the worker's diet to be closer to but not quite the same as the queen's diet.


Funny you ask,  A friend and I were discussing it at lunch,  The UI short corse from Gene Robinsons group does a thing every other year.  3 years back one of the Grad students (Harry ??) did a very interesting "experiment"  that showed social interactions within the hive were key.   Randy and Gene discussed it,  and I was privileged to listen.

Maybe Randy will chime in,  but my takeaway was that its much more in depth than just diet.


Charles

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